Teacher Leadership Program Research Articles

The impact of a formal teacher leadership program on student performance

Formal teacher leader programs that develop, position, and reward teachers to work with peers to improve instruction are a growing reform effort in the United States, yet there are few published studies of their efficacy. In this paper, we examine the impacts of one district’s teacher leadership program on students’ annual state test performance. The program placed full-time instructional coaches and partly released English language arts (ELA) and mathematics content specialists in each of 11 district schools. To assess the program’s impact, we examined five years of student-level state test data; two years before the adoption of the intervention and three years afterwards. Using an interrupted time series design, we examined trends in performance before and after the adoption of the intervention. Overall, there were no significant effects in ELA, and a small negative effect in mathematics. By contrast, in the stable sub-sample of students who were in the district for the five years examined in the study, there was a large significant positive effect in mathematics and large but non-significant positive effect in ELA. We conclude with a discussion the implications of these findings for research and policy.

Elementary School Teacher Quality Improvement Model Based on Literacy and Technology

The Industrial Revolution 4.0 and Society 5.0 were concepts that first developed in Japan. This concept has an impact not only on Japan but also for all countries in the world. Every country is required to be able to adapt technology, including Indonesia. Technology that is growing will even affect the development of each generation. This is proven by the discovery of the baby boomers to the alpha generation as a result of the development of technology and information. Therefore, every parent and even educator must have the skills to be able to educate generation Z and alpha who are currently very exposed to technology. This is even exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic which is currently still spreading in Indonesia. The government has started to encourage Distance Learning to break the chain of virus spread. Teachers and parents are required to be able to collaborate in educating children. In fact, teachers must be able to present interesting learning models so that they are not boring for students. Therefore, various kinds of skills are needed so that teachers are able to adapt to these conditions. And of course, those who need this the most are teachers in marginal areas of Indonesia who have many limitations. The general objective of this research is to compile basic data and develop a Literacy and Technology-based Elementary School Teacher Development model in Indonesia's Marginal Region, which is named TELEPATI (TEacher LEadership Program Towards Excellent Indonesia). TELAPATI is an integrated program to improve the quality of Indonesian teachers by optimizing their leadership abilities as themselves, teachers and educators. This model is dedicated to helping improve the quality of teachers who are able to educate the Indonesian generation in today's digital era. This model integrates coaching and mentoring using the 24h-Self Controlling system.

Evaluation of a Noyce program: Development of teacher leaders in STEM education

The development of teacher leaders in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics has become a focus as demand grows on the national scale to improve student learning in these disciplines. As teachers’ role in leadership continues to be redefined, research and professional development in teacher leadership will continue to evolve. Given the lack of a clear conceptualization of teacher leadership in the empirical literature, there is a clear methodological challenge for evaluators who are charged with assessing the impact of teacher leadership professional development programs. This paper describes how both the Utilization-Focused Evaluation and Theory-Driven Evaluation frameworks were used concurrently to design evaluation methods that were effective for assessing the impact of a dynamic teacher leadership program. The evaluation is specifically situated within the context of a Robert Noyce Scholarship Program, which aimed to grow veteran science teachers into teacher leaders. The paper describes how the evaluation frameworks used guided the evaluation methods, provides illustrative evaluation results, and states lessons learned from the author’s experiences working within this context. This paper aims to provide an example of evaluation methods that could be replicated by evaluators’ working within a Noyce or teacher leadership context.

Teacher leadership and the advancement of teacher agency

In keeping with the theme of this special issue, “Looking back, Moving forward,” the present article describes how Iowa is moving forward with its Teacher Leadership and Compensation (TLC) System. First implemented in school districts in the 2014–2015 year, the TLC System is designed to attract and support new teachers; make available meaningful teacher leadership roles, for which teachers receive supplemental salary; and provide high‐quality professional development. Today, every school district in the state of Iowa has a teacher leadership program in place with one of every four Iowa teachers holding a well‐defined, compensated leadership role. In order to participate fully in the new school culture created by the TLC System, it is imperative that teachers have agency, the ability and initiative to direct their own professional growth, and the opportunity to contribute to the growth of colleagues. Teacher education programs can advance preservice teacher agency by cultivating a growth mindset, implementing a dialogic pedagogy, and devoting attention to the construction of teacher identity.

A collaborative, design-based approach to improving an online program

This paper explores the effects of a collaborative, design-based approach to improving teaching and learning in core courses in an online program. It describes research which tested a model for linking iterative, theory based improvements in the design and implementation of online courses to learning outcomes. The researchers, who are also faculty in a graduate-level Teacher Leadership program, used the Quality Matters and Community of Inquiry frameworks to address first course design (QM) and then course implementation (CoI) issues across multiple semesters. Results show improved learning outcomes in most core courses from this two-step process.

Mandated Preparation Program Redesign

This case study presents a chronicle of events spanning a decade in Kentucky that led to state policy changes for principal preparation and details the response to those mandated changes by professors at the University of Kentucky. Professors’ collaborative efforts resulted in a new teacher leadership program and redesigned principal certification program that reflect characteristics of effective preparation programs described in literature. The article closes with lessons learned including a reflection by the author who was an active participant throughout the statewide and university redesign efforts.

Preparing teacher leaders: Perceptions of the impact of a cohort-based, job embedded, blended teacher leadership program

This qualitative study was designed to examine teachers’ and principals’ perceptions of the impact of a graduate program designed to prepare teacher leaders. Impact was investigated through interviews with 20 graduates and 6 principals. Using Mezirow’s concept of transformational learning, the study documents perceived transformation of teachers’ frames of reference: two related to teaching (adopt an inquiry stance; learn to view oneself as an autonomous professional), and two related to leadership (adopt a leadership stance; view student learning as a communal responsibility). The study includes implications for the design of graduate level teacher education programs to enhance their impact and effectiveness.

Changing leadership: Teachers lead the way for schools that learn

This paper presents findings from a three-year, qualitative study of teachers enrolled in a Masters of Teacher Leadership program. Researchers sought to understand the ways teachers’ beliefs about and understandings of teacher leadership were affected by their participation in a formal teacher leadership program, as well as the kinds of actions they took up as a result of this participation. Data indicate three significant ways participants’ work as teacher leaders was developed and enhanced, including: (a) identifying and amplifying their professional voice, (b) deepening and extending their voice as they plan, and (c) reframing their work/shift responsibility through constructing widening circles of influence and impact. Authors identify implications of their research for growing teacher leaders, school improvement and change, changing school culture, enhancing student engagement, and building new structures.

Finding Common Ground: Teacher Leaders and Principals Speak Out about Teacher Leadership

This study investigates how a small group of teacher leaders and their principals, participating in a teacher leadership program called the teacher connector (TC), understand teacher leadership and its impact on their practice. TCs’ responsibilities were typical of teacher leaders; thus, their experiences can provide insights into teacher leaders’ experiences more generally. Results indicate that the norms of egalitarianism, seniority, and autonomy influenced TCs’ descriptions of their positions and often lead to behaviors that undermined their authority. Principals downplayed these norms’ impact and often exacerbated teacher resistance. Alternatively, when principals and teacher leaders had clear converging views about the TCs’ goals and their connection to the school vision, teacher resistance decreased and TCs felt more efficacious.

Developing the teacher leader

Abstract Schools today are experiencing massive and rapid changes. These changes create opportunities for teachers to become leaders at their school sites rather than just blindly coping with change. Unfortunately, most schools are not set up to accept teachers in leadership roles and often actually discourage teachers from taking on additional responsibility. This article discusses the state of leadership education for teachers today, and focuses on the needs of teachers who wish to be more influential in their schools. A successful teacher leadership program is outlined as a promising way to promote the skills necessary for teachers to become confident leaders.